MJ, the Bulls and the Hall of Fame

Have you ever been hanging out with your friends in a crowded bar where the music was blaring and everybody was screaming over everybody else? In those situations, it’s almost impossible to hear yourself think let alone communicate effectively. Well, that’s what writing about Michael Jordan feels like right now. His induction into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame has ignited a firestorm of tributes and memorials and renewed debates about his place in NBA history.

Mind you, those debates are hardly necessary. Jordan is one of the greatest scorers ever (after Wilt Chamberlain and alongside Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and Kobe Bryant), one of the greatest winners of all time (after Bill Russell and alongside Kareem and former teammate Scottie Pippen) and, without question, the single greatest player to ever put a ball through a hoop.

Let’s face it, there was nothing Michael Jordan couldn’t do on a basketball court, offensively or defensively. You can nitpick flaws in virtually any other all-time great. Russell wasn’t much of a scorer (and his practice habits were on par with Allen Iverson’s). Chamberlain couldn’t hit a free throw and (even more damning) didn’t win as often as he should have. Ditto for Oscar Robertson, who never tasted championship glory until he was playing second-fiddle to Kareem. Speaking of Kareem, there were occasional complaints about his desire to go all-out on defense and rebounding during the regular season. Larry Bird and Magic Johnson were never were accomplished individual defenders. So on and so forth.

Now Jordan will enter the Hall of Fame in what is, fittingly enough, one of the greatest-ever classes. I mean, think about it: MJ, David Robinson, John Stockton and coach Jerry Sloan. You could pull Dave Corzine and Brad Sellers out of mothballs and that team might still win the Eastern Conference. Seriously.

So yeah, all the tributes are pretty fitting. However, it’s worth remembering that Jordan, as unearthly as he was, didn’t do it all alone. Sure, he tried. For seven frustrating years, he tried to win it all by himself. But it wasn’t until he started trusting his coach (whose “equal opportunity offense” seemed to threaten his individual dominance) and his teammates (or, as MJ called them back then, “my supporting cast”) that he finally won that elusive championship and began to truly forge his legend.

See, despite what some people think, winning an NBA title isn’t an individual accomplishment. Heck, it’s not even a team accomplishment. It’s an organizational accomplishment. Winning takes countless thousands of hours of effort by owners, general managers, coaching staffs, trainers, team doctors, public and media relations staff members…heck, even the ball boys who hand out towels and pass out Gatorade during timeouts play a part in the winning. I’m being completely serious here.

The general feeling about the Bulls dynasty of the 1990s is that it was Jordan and a bunch of other guys, and that those other guys could have been just about anybody. Pippen sometimes gets a little credit, but not as much as he deserves. Given how amazing MJ was, it’s natural that the overall greatness of those teams has been, historically speaking, taken for granted. The reality is, Jordan was blessed to be surrounded by the perfect coach, the perfect second-in-command and a perfect group of roleplayers (shooters, rebounds, etc.). Yes, Michael facilitated for those guys, but they also provided the support he needed to be his very best…the very best.

If you think back to those six championships, there were many examples of Jordan’s teammates coming through. Pippen did a little bit of everything (including shutting down Magic Johnson in the 1991 NBA Finals). John Paxson, Steve Kerr and B.J. Armstrong hit critical jumpers. (In fact, Paxson and Kerr clinched the ’91, ’93 and ’97 titles with their shooting. And Jordan wasn’t even directly involved in the play that led to Paxson’s series-clinching three-pointer against the Phoenix Suns in 1993.) Bill Cartwright, Horace Grant and Dennis Rodman grabbed key rebounds and did the dirty work in the paint. Everybody on those teams got after it on defense (and defense, as they say, is what wins championships). Phil Jackson installed the system and repeatedly made the coaching adjustments necessary for victory. And Jerry Krause, as maligned as he may be, brought them all together.

Now consider Jordan’s contemporaries, the men who “failed” to dethrone him. Clyde Drexler. Charles Barkley. Karl Malone. When did their roleplayers ever step up in a critical moment? Can you remember one time that ever happened?

I’m not trying to diminish Jordan’s greatness. He’s the NBA’s career leader in Player Efficiency Rating for a reason. His personal dominance, his ability to meet any challenge, his desire to succeed…those things are beyond compare. But the greatest accomplishment in any sport — winning — is about the team.

Just ask the version of Michael Jordan who played for the Washington Wizards. That MJ was still 75-80 percent of the one who helped orchestrate six championship runs. Yet his Wizards won a mere 74 games during his two seasons on the team. That’s only two more than the 1995-96 Bulls won. And, of course, those Wizards did not make the playoffs. It was a failure so crushing that Jordan, in what everyone knew was his last season in the league, wasn’t voted as a starter on the 2003 Eastern Conference All-Star Team. (Vince Carter was eventually press-ganged into surrendering his starting spot to Jordan.) Let’s face it: it’s a bad sign when the greatest and most beloved player in any sport ever can’t even win a popularity contest.

So what’s my point? Simply that, in the rush to celebrate the greatness of Michael Jordan, don’t forget that, in many ways, his Hall of Fame induction and the associated lovefest wouldn’t be possible without the Chicago Bulls. Jordan made those teams great, but they did the same for him. You know, one knock against Bill Russell in the “All-Time Greatness Debate” is that, unlike Jordan, he played alongside several other Hall of Famers. But ask yourself this: how many of those 60s Celtics would have made the Hall of Fame if their team hadn’t won 11 championships in 13 seasons? Those other players came and went. Even Red Auerbach retired mid-dynasty. The only constant was Russell.

But the argument that his legacy was partially dependent on his team is a fair one. The same can be said for MJ.

you sound a little sour. not sure if you’re trying to give props to the organization or take some shots at jordan’s legacy. both? anyway, name a championship team that didn’t have one of the dominant big men in the league. the list is slim to none. the pieces put around jordan for the rings were useful guys (shooting specialists, rebound specialist in rodman, defensive specialist in randy brown, foul specialist in the three headed monster, etc). and i loved them all, right down to jud bushler. but i would say that mj made perfect use of them all. he also made pippen who he was, which was awesome. some people site ho grant. no way. he went 13ppg and 9rebs during the first three rings. solid guy but nothing putting you over the top. cartwright was 9 and 6 for the first ring. you site pax hitting some big shots. pax was just interviewed and he credits mj as the reason he was able to play as many seasons as he did in the nba. i say the rings were all mj. we wouldn’t have won ANY rings if you would have substituted ANY other player in the league for mj onto the bulls’ rosters.

granville waiters — Oh, I’m definitely not sour at all. MJ is the best ever, no question…which is exactly what I said. But I wanted to give the team and organization a call out…because they helped make him what he was. It was a symbiotic relationship. We all know that Jordan’s teammates needed him, but few people really acknowledge that he needed them too.

MJ was one of the greatest players that the Bulls drafted! and I am thankful for MJ bring those 6 championships to Chicago. Hopefully in the future other players like D. Rose can continue his success and bring more championships to again. So we can caught up to the Lakers and Celtics.

We will never know wether MJ would have won a championship without Pippin will we? He never even came close. It does take a team to win a championship. Without Cartwright, Grant, Paxson, Rodman et al and the offensive system and the defensive pressure the Bulls do not win the Championships they did. How many times were the Bulls trailing in a game and in the forth quarter they would turn up the defensive pressure and turn the game around. One man doesn’t do that, a team does. MJ was the centerpiece of a great team, but the entire team won the championships.

Couldn’t agree more Boppinbob. I did not get a chance to see the HOF speech, (unfortunately, I was able to hear C. Vivian Stringers speech, …ugh. Sit down, no one cares.) but I did read about MJ’s comments this morning. If what I read was true, I am dissappointed.

Look, MJ was the best b-ball player ever (Nod to Lebron who has a chance to catch him). But it was class-less to call out all those people at this point. MJ had seven years to win one by himself. It didn’t happen.

On the other hand, all of those players got big contracts elsewhere after Mike retired …and they never played one minute of ball at the same level. So MJ’s point was clearly made to all of us that are paying attention. There was no need to get up on stage and act petty.

I guess every hero has his weakness: Sampsons was his hair, Micheal has an inferiority complex, and Brett Farve grew horns. Some days it makes me feel better about being average.

If I remember correctly, Phil Jackson wanted to retire after the fifth championship and was talked into coming back to get the second threepeat. After accomplinshing the second threepeat no one could talk Phil out of retirement. MJ retired because he would not play for another coach. That is why I have always felt that MJ was the one who broke up the Bulls, not Jerry Krause. Maybe Bulls fans would not have had to deal with the Floyd years if MJ had stayed.

Michael isn’t great to see another fine supertalented individual as yourself Derrick Rose in Chicago,although this team is not quite the greatness of the teams in 90’s you orchestrated,they have class and are sportsman and I know you are rooting them on!
I always wish your team the bobcats the best as yourself i just had to mention about Derrick.

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